Boerick Compendium of Materia Medica

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A COMPENDOF THE

Principles of HomoeopattiyAS TAUGHT BY HAHNEMANN,

AND VKRIFIED BY A CENTURY OF CLINICALAPPLICATION,

WIVL. BOKRICKK, M. D.Professor of Materia Medica aud Therapeutics, at the Hahnemann Hospital

College of San Francisco; Associate Author of the Twelve TissueRemedies of Sehuessler; Stepping Stone to Homoeopathy;

Member of American Institute of Homoeopathy,Etc., Etc.

SAN FRANCISCO:B0ERICK:E & RUNYON1896.


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COPYRIGHTED 1896,BY

BOERICKK & RUNYON

Jos. WrNTRKBUKN CO.,Printers and Ei.ectrotypers,

San Francisco.


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PREFACE.Hahnemann's Organon is the great text-book of the

homoeopathic school. It contains philosophical con-ceptions and practical directions for the establishmentof a true science of therapeutics, and all genuine pro-gress towards this goal is in the direction pointed outin that work. To fix its principles clearly in the mindof the student, to faithfully apply them in practice, isthe special duty and high privilege of Homoeopathy.The more this is done, the^more will this masterly bookbecome a veritable mountain of therapeutic light to thepractitioner.Hahnemann's teachings, and the therapeutic edifice

erected by the homoeopathic school, are based upontwo distinct factors. On the one hand, upon facts ofobservation and experiment obtained by strict adher-ence to the inductive methods of research, facts thatcan thus be verified at all times; and, on the otherhand, upon new ideas resulting from the exercise ofdeductive reasoning, ideas belonging possibly to alarger and higher realm, and to some extent beyondthe acceptance of modern scientific thought, but never-theless capable of great power in achieving curativeresults.

Until quite recently, the tendency of modern homoe-opathy was to bend its energies perhaps too exclusivelyupon the acquisition of the facts yielding immediateresults, while neglecting to some extent the study of


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iv Preface.the underlying principles. With neglect of the studyof homoeopathic institutes came coquetry with old-school methods, and the alluring adoption of modernpalliative and mechanical therapeutics, leading un-questionably to deterioration of our distinctive prac-tice. The reaction had to come. We are in the midstof it. A homoeopathic renaissance is upon us. Teachand study the Organon is its watchword. This littlebook is intended to be an introduction and an aid to afuller study and wider acceptance of Hahnemann'sdoctrines. It does not pretend to be more than anattempt to elucidate the salient and vital points oftenabstrusely and always metaphorically treated by Hah-nemann, and thus to familiarize the student with thefundamental groundwork of our school. These essen-tial doctrines do not include the necessary acceptanceof every statement of Hahnemann as of equal and ab-solute importance. Indeed, a wise discrimination isnecessary, for the minor things may be instructive orobstructive, or even destructive, according to the waythey are held; they may, therefore, be useful or other-wise for the mental development of the physician orthe scientific evolution of the school.The author has gladly availed himself of everything

published that furthered the end in view, and he hopesthat the little volume will be used by the student andyoung practitioner as a first stepping-stone to the richmine of deep philosophy and practical suggestion con-tained in the writings of Samuel Hahnemann.

WM. BOERICKE, M. D.San Francisco, September, 1896.


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CONTENTS.CHAPTER I.

THK THERAPEUTIC FIEI.D. Pages.Three methods of combating disease : Preventive medi-

cine; Palliative medicine; Curative medicine Medic-inal therapeutics Empiricism Practice accordingto some pathological theory: i. Allopathy. 2. Anti-pathy, or Eantiopathy. 3. Organo-Therapy Objec-tions to Antipathetic treatment Practice based uponthe Law of Cure The first promulgation of this prin-ciple The development of the homoeopathic princi-ple Homoeopathy, the science of therapeuticsThe great central truths of Homoeopathy Isopathicmedication and its modern form of serum-therapy 1-13

CHAPTER II.PRINCIPIvES OF PHARMACOI.OGY.

Materia Medica Drugs and drug-action Medicinalforce is a distinct property of drugs Doctrine of Sig-natures Other methods of determining the medicinalvirtues of drugs Experimental PharmacologyPhysiological action of drugs The homoeopathicmethod by means of drug experimentation on thehealthydrug-proving Drug Pathogenesy Thevalue of Toxicology as illustrating drug action Dif-ferent applications of drug action 14-22

CHAPTER III.THE HOMCEOPATHIC MATERIA MEDICA.

The first book on drug effects Hahnemann's MateriaMedica Pura Publication of the Chronic Diseases,Sources of the Homoeopathic Materia Medica Thecomparative value of the three sources of symptoms.The Hahnemannian Schema The repertory or indexof symptoms How to learn drug pathogenesy 23-30


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vi Contents.CHAPTER IV.

D R U G-P ROVING. Pages.The proving of medicines General rules for drug-prov-

ing Directions for provers Dosage required forproving Female provers Repetition of dosesAge and sex Temperament Re-provings Her-ing's rules lor provers How to describe symptomsobtained from a proving The three essential featuresof every complete symptom Primary and secondarydrug effects Hahnemann's method of conductingprovings 31-37

CHAPTER V.INTERPRKTATION OF DRUG PATHOGENESIS.

Of general symptoms Of peculiar or characteristic symp-toms Of certain elective affinities to special organsor functions Locality, or seat, of action vSensa-tions, or kind, of action Modalities and concomi-tants Boeninghausen's method of interpreting symp-tomatology 38-44

CHAPTER VI.DRUG RKI.ATIONSHIP.

Family relation, or collateral, side relation Antidotalrelation Concordant, or compatible, relationshipComplementary relation Inimical relation 45-48

CHAPTER VII.THE APPIylCATlON OF HOMCEOPATHY.

The examination of the patient The selection of theremedy The administration of the single remedy.The dose and its repetition The totality of the symp-toms Special precautions to be observed Object-ive symptoms The totality in acute diseases Thecollective totality of epidemic diseases Interpretationof the totality Characteristic, or peculiar, symp-toms Mental symptoms First, or oldest, symp-toms Etiological factors Late symptomsFunctional symptoms Need of pathology General,


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Contents. viiPages.

or absolute, symptoms Totality of equality Path-ological similarity Method of treating slight ail-ments Absence of characteristic symptoms in thetotality Partial, or one-sided, diseases .....49-62

CHAPTER VIII.THE SIMir^IMUM.

The indicated remedy The single remedy Alterna-tion, or rotation, of remedies 63-65

CHAPTER IX.THE SECOND PRESCRIPTION.

Rules governing the second prescription Three precau-tionary rules of Hahnemann Diet and regimen dur-ing homoeopathic treatment Regimen in acute dis-eases 66-72

CHAPTER X.HAHNEMANN'S NOSOI^OGY.

Acute diseases Chronic diseases Drug diseasesThe evolution of Hannemann's doctrine of chronicdiseases Cause of recurrence of chronic diseasesThe skin phase of chronic diseases The underlyingfacts of the Psoric theory Anti-psoric remediesHahnemann's suggestions in regard to administeringanti-psoric remedies Other miasms recognized byHahnemann Sycosis Eradicative possibilities ofanti-psoric treatment Pre-natal treatment by meansof anti-psoric remedies Suggestions for the treatmentof chronic diseases Partial diseases and local affec-tions Objections to local application of a medicinesimultaneously with its internal use The local appli-cation of non-homoeopathic remedies The local dis-ease is nature's efforts to relieve by derivation Themental state and temperament of the patient Mentaldiseases and their treatment Acute insanity Inter-mittent and alternating diseases 73-89


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\iii Contents.CHAPTER XI.

POSOI.OGY. Pages.Different effects between large and small doses Reasons

for the difference in dosage between drugs chosen homoe-opathically and anti-pathically Reason why thehoniceopathic dose is necessarily smaller Aggrava-tion follows sometimes even a minute homoeopathic dose.Historical development of the homcEpathic doseRepetition of doses The theory of Dynamization.Hahnemann's reasons why the skeptic ridicules thesehomoeopathic attenuations 90-98

CHAPTER XII.THE PREPARATION OF HOMCEOPATHIC MEDICINES.

Pharmacopoeia Essential conditions for preparing homoe-pathic medicines The menstrua used in homoeopathicpharmacy Alcohol Sugar of milk Distilledwater The unit of ' medicinal strength Prepara-tions of drugs Aqueous solutions TincturesDilutions or liquid attenuations Centesimal andDecimal scale Triturations To convert tritura-tions into liquid potencies Pellets, disks, cones,tablets, etc 99-108

CHAPTER XIII.Hahnemann's Philosophy 109-116

APPENDIX.A Catechism on Samuel Hahnemann's Organon, and

Chronic Diseases, by the late Professor SamuelLilienthal 117-152


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A COMPENDOF THE

PRINCIPLES OF HOMCEOPATHY.CHAPTER I.

THE THERAPEUTIC FIELD.The aim of the art of medicine is to cure disease, and

the physician's highest ideal of a cure, as Hahnemannsays, Organon 2, is the rapid, gentle and permanentrestoration of health, or the removal and annihilationof disease in its whole extent, in the shortest, most reli-able and most harmless manner, and on easily com-prehensible principles, that is, with the least possibleexpenditure of time, money, vitality and suffering.

In pursuance of this object, the physician pressesinto his service all agencies which tend to health. Thisis the part ofTherapeutics [therapeuein, to attend upon]. It in-

cludes all that relates to the science and art of healing,includes all agents, medicines among them, which mayaid this purpose. It embraces dietetics, climate, cloth-ing, bathing, nursing, application of heat, cold, elec-tricity and all other means used by the physician forrestoring health, when that is possible, or in palliatingviolent conditions or incurable diseases, or in prevent-ing their development. Hence there areThree methods of combating disease, of which

every physician is bound to avail himself. They are:


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2 A COMPEND OF THE1. Preventive medicine.2. Palliative medicine.3. Curative medicine.These cover the whole field of possible therapeutic

activity.*. Preventive Medicine includes the application ofeverything that physiology, hygiene, sanitary science,etc., can teach to lessen the development of diseaseaccording to the teaching in 4 of the Organon.

'' The physician is at the same time a preserver ofhealth, when he knows the causes that disturb health,that produce and maintain disease, and when he knowshow to remove them from healthy persons.

It includes much of bacteriological knowledge, anti-septic medication, subjects that have made enormousstrides in recent years. It includes as well the judi-cious use of homoeopathic remedies in preventing ormodifying the development of epidemic and hereditarydiseases.

Palliative Medicine. Palliative medicines are oftwo kinds:

(1) The use of drugs in their physiological dosagefor their direct effects, as the use of Opium and Mor-phine for pain. This is the common method of theold school.

(2) By the carefully selected Homoeopathic remedygiven in minute dosage. This frequently yields bril-liant results in palliating where a cure is impossible.This latter method is to be tried in every case beforedrug palliation- is used.

This is almost the sole resource of the old school,and consequently much abused, but in the hands of the

*This was aptly and perfectly expressed by Dr. Bering to theauthor in the German words Rindern, Lindern, Mindern, embodyingevery possibility of a physician's distinctive sphere of usefulness.


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Principles of Homceopathy. 3true physician who knows its subordinate place, itconstitutes a legitimate method in incurable diseases,beyond the operation of the law of cure, where we canonly alleviate, not radically cure. While Homoeopathyreduces the need and occasions for the use of mere pal-liatives to a small limit, yet palliation has its use inthe practice of medicine, but it is always the expressionon the part of the physician of his impotence to cureradically.

Curative Medicine is almost exclusively occupied byHomoeopathy, for this method alone cures withoutsubjecting the patient to new pains and discomforts;it alone fulfills the highest aim of the physiciantoheal quickly, gently, radically, according to scientificand rational methods.All physicians are compelled to avail themselves ofall three methods at times. As sanitarians and hygi-enists, physicians can do much to prevent zymotic andepidemic diseases; as homoeopathists, much can bedone in the eradication of inherited disease tendenciesand preventing their development; and as the laws thatgovern curative medicine are applied more fully, theneed for mere palliation will correspondingly grow less.

Leaving aside the large field of General Therapeutics,common to all physicians, of whatever school of medi-cine, we restrict ourselves to the consideration of thedifferent uses of drugs as therapeutic agents.

Medicinal Tlierapeutics is the application of drugsas medicines for the purpose of modifying or curingdisease. Drugs are employed in the medicinal thera-peutic field either empirically, or according to the Lawof Similarsi. e., scientifically, because according tofixed law.Empiricism is based upon mere experience and is

practice without regard to any theory or scientific


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4 A COMPEND OF THEdeduction or investigation. A remedy is given whichexperience has shown to be effective in a similar case.It is the rule of authority and leads to mechanicalroutinism in practice. Certain remedies have, how-ever, obtained a permanent place in medicine thathave been discovered empirically, and whose mode ofaction cannot be readily explained. It has been foundthat certain drugs act curatively against certain defi-nite diseases when given in material dosage. They areknown as specifics. There are not many, but such areQuinine in malaria, Mercury in syphilis. Iodine inglandular affections. Salicylic acid in rheumatism, etc.These occupy a rather unique position, though it canbe claimed that the relationship is a homoeopathic one,although it differs from the usual homoeopathic rela-tionship between remedies to disease in requiringmaterial dosage.

Practice according to some pathological theory ischaracteristic of the old school of medicine. It is con-stantly changing, as different views on physiology andpathology lead to corresponding therapeutic changes.It is therefore one of the most unstable of methods*At present, pathology being dominated by bacterio-logical views, the corresponding therapeutic measuresare largely germicidal, anti-septic or anti-toxical. Butalready bacterial pathology, and as a consequence itstherapeutics show signs of the inevitable displace-ment.*The use of medicines when administered accordingto some pathological theory is either according to allo-

pathic or antipathic method.*Says Lawson Tait, that during his professional life he has

learned and unlearned some four or tive theories of inflammation,and he predicts that the present prevalent theory, coccophobia hecalls it, will soon go the way of the other theories.


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Phinciples of Homceopathy. 6Allopathy (from Alios, other and Pathos, a disease),

where the symptoms are different, the same organs andtissues being affected in a different manner, or otherorgans and tissues being affected in some manner; therelationship being one of indefinite diversity*

Allopathy usually attacks the parts most exemptfrom the disease, in order to draw away the diseasethrough them and thus to expel it, as is imagined. 55 Organon.

Antipathy, or Eailtiopathy (from Eanthios, contrary,and Pathos, disease)where the symptoms, or condi-tions indicated by them, are opposites; the relationshipbeing one of direct antagonism. It is a palliativemethod, pure and simple, wherewith the physician canappear to be most useful and can usually gain thepatient's confidence by deluding him with momentaryamelioration.The inefficacy and danger of this method as applied

in diseases of a chronic nature is easily verified byclinical observation. Study 56-71 Organon.

'^All pure experience and exact experiment will con-vince us that persistent symptoms of disease are soimperfectly alleviated or exterminated by contrarysymptoms of a drug, used according to antipathic orpalliative method, that after a brief period of apparentrelief, they will break forth again in a more markeddegree, and visibly aggravated. Organon 23.

In this category of allopathic treatment belong thetherapeutic method of Biochemistry, introduced by Dr.Schuessler of Germany, and the various forms of chem-ical treatment, such as Hensel's, etc. The formeradopted from Homoeopathy its method of diminishingdosage and some of its distinctive remedies, but other-

*Dake, Pathogenetic Therapeutics.


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6 A COMPEND OF THEwise it has no relationship to Homoeopathy, since itstherapeutic procedures are based upon a pathologicaltheory and not upon the symptoms of the individualpatient, which alone constitute the basis of homoeo-pathic therapeutics. Here also belongsOrgauo-Therapy, which is that therapeutic method

which aims to supply deficiencies in the functionalactivity of human organs by the administration ofsubstances derived from similar organs in animals.

It has been found that the extract of Thyroid glandof animals, administered to the human organism,causes a rapid disappearance of the morbid symptomsof myxedemaa form of disease or atrophy of thethyroid, interfering with the performance of itsfunction.The doctrine that sound organs of certain animalsare useful in diseases of those organs in man so latelyrevived in the old school, was clearly taught by OswaldCroll, a disciple of Paracelsus. Its modern extensionis unreasonable and unscientific, and a passing thera-peutic fad.

Besides these special and modern tendencies of oldschool practice, there are certain perennial featurescharacteristic of it. In place of the former hypothet-ical assumptions of the hidden causes of disease thatproved delusive and deceptive as a basis for treatment,material causes of disease were next assumed to exist,and hence the treatment, based upon such hypotheses,consisted mostly in eliminating from the organism thesupposed offending cause, therefore the list of purga-tives, emetics, sudorifics counter-irritants, surgical pro-cedures, local medication of all kinds. But though atemporary relief is frequently obtained thereby, nopermanent cure is established, rather an increase inthe very condition, in the case of chronic disease; or


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Principles of Homceopathy. 7metastases appear sooner or later, which, however, arethen looked upon as new diseases, and not as direct re-sults of ill-adapted treatment.

But in by far the greatest proportion of cases ofdisease, known as chronic, these impetuous, weakening,and indirect therapeutie measures of the old schoolscarcely ever prove to be of the least benefit. For afew days at most they suspend one or another of thosetroublesome manifestations of disease which return,however, as soon as nature has become inured to thatcounter-stimulus; and the disease will re-appear withmore violence, because the vital powers have been re-duced by the pain of counter-irritation and improperevacuations. *Objections to Antipathic Treatment.

(1) It is merely symptomatic treatment attackingsome prominent single condition, instead of the diseaseas a whole, and neccosarily leads to polypharmacy in theendeavor to meet different conditions at the same time.

(2) The transient amelioration is followed by anincreased aggravation of the very condition to be re-moved, necessitating increasing dosage.(3) Drug diseases are established that complicatehopelessly the original disease of the patient; the pos-sibility of harm by the introduction of the necessarylarge dosage of drugs and foreign substances alwaysbeing very evident.None of these therapeutic methods are curative in

the true sense by directly modifying the vital activitiesof the organism. In the cases where such treatment isultimately successful (and certain temporary beneficialresults cannot be denied), the homoeopathic method ismore direct, safer, more radical, and with no possibleharm to the patient.

* Organon,' Introduction.


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8 A COMPEND OF THEPractice based upon the Law of Cure is the only

truly scientific therapeutic method, since it alonefulfills the conditions of science and offers a medicalpractice true for all time and applicable to all forms ofdisease in men and animals.Homoeopathy is the only therapeutic method based

.

upon law.Siniilia Siniilibus Curantur.* Like affections are

cured by their similars, expresses the law for drugselection in all curable forms of disease. By itsapplication, the curative remedy is found in curablecases; and in incurable cases, the same law usuallypoints to a remedy that will act palliatively in mostconditions. By Law of Cure is meant the definite pathalong which a drug force moves to cure a diseased con-dition. This law forms the basis of Homoeopathy[from the Greek words homiios and pathos, meaningsimilar affections], the therapeutic method that appliesthe principle that any drug which is capable of pro-

* There exists a misconception concerning the phraseology em-ploy ed by Hahnemann in the expression of the Law of Similars.Dr. K. E. Dudgeon, the recognized authority concerning the worksof Hahnemann, writes in the appendix to his translation of theOrganon, Hahnemann always wrote the formula Similia Simili-bus Curentur, thereby giving an imperative or mandatory turn tothe phrase. The translation must evidently be Let likes betreated by likes. Darch Beobachtung, Nachdenken und Erfahrungfand ich, dass im Gegentheile von leiztern [Erleichterungsmittel undPalliative durch die Curart contraria contrariis] die wahre, 7'khtige,hesie Heilung zufindensei in dem Satze Similia Similibua Curentur.Wr'ihle, um sanft, schnell, gerwiss und dauerhaft zu heilen, in jedemKratikheilsfalle e'lne Argnei, welche ein aehnliches Leiden fur sicherregen kann, als sie heilen soil Nevertheless, Similia SimiiibusCurantur has been almost universally adopted by the homoeopathicschool, and the belief and conviction have been unconsciously ex-pressed thereby that it is a laic of natureS. S. CuranturLikesare cured by likes; rather than a rule of art, S. S. CurenturLetlikes be treated by likes.


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Principles of Homceopathy. 9ducing symptoms of disease in the healthy will removesimilar symptoms, and thus cure the disease when foundin the sick.The first promulgation of tliis principle was made

by Hahnemann in 1796, in an essay published inHufeland's Journal, entitled On a new principle forascertaining the curative properties of drugs. In thisessay Hahnemann formulated his conclusions thus: Every powerful medicinal substance produces in thehuman body a peculiar kind of disease, the morepowerful the medicine, the more peculiar, marked andviolent the disease. We should imitate nature, whichsometimes cures a chronic disease by superaddinganother and employ in the disease we wish to cure thatmedicine which is able to produce another very similarartificial disease, and the former will be curedSimiliaSimilibus.

This was six years after his first experiments withCinchona bark, which was the first drug experimentedwith and which gave striking evidences of the simi-larity between the effects it is capable of producing, andthose for which it had ever been employed, and whichwas the beginning of a rational, scientific, MateriaMedica, and of a scientific therapeutics based thereon.The most characteristic feature about the development ofHomoeopathy is the strict observance of the inductivemethod of research that Hahnemann adopted. Care-ful expeiiments were instituted, all preconceived theo-ries were ostracized, and the results and rigid deduc-tion from them were not published until years hadelapsed in which to verify all the statements.The development of the homoeopathic principle

began in the mind of Hahnemann with his experimentswith Cinchona, which in turn led him to other experi-ments with other drugs and patient search of recorded


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10 A COMPEND OF THEaction and uses of drugs throughout the medical liter-ature. His first suggestions fell unheeded by the pro-fession; but he continued his experiments, and nineyears later published a work in Latin ''On the PositiveEffects of Medicines, and at the same time declaredthe principle of Similars as a law of general applica-tion. Five years more of further reflection and experi-ment enabled him to perfect his system and embodyits principles in his great book, the Organon ofRational Medicine. The following year, while ateacher at the University of Leipsic, he published vol-ume I of his Materia Medica Pura, containing originalprovings made by himself and members of his family,and assisted later by some enthusiastic disciples thatgathered around him at the University; and in 1821he published the final sixth volume, containing thepositive effects of sixty-four medicines. With the pub-lication of these two great works, Hahnemann providedboth the theoretical and practical requirements ofHomoeopathy as a distinct method of therapeutics.He was the first to apply the inductive method ofresearch to therapeutics. He says, in the preface tothe second edition of the Organon, published in 1818: The true healing art is in its nature a pure science ofexperience, and can and must rest on clear facts andon the sensible phenomena pertaining to their sphereof action. Its subjects can only be derived from pureexperience and observation, and it dares not take asingle step out of the sphere of pure, well-observedexperience and experiment. And, again, Everyone of its conclusions about the actual must always bebased on sensible perceptions, facts and experiences, ifit would elicit the truth.Homoeopathy, the Science of Therapeutics. Such

a healing art conformable to nature and experience, a


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12 A COMPEND OF THE(4) The administration of one single remedy at a

time.(5) The minimum (smallest) dose that will bring

about a cure.(6) Repetition of the dose should cease when marked

improvement sets in.Isopathic Medication and its modern form ofSerum-Therapy. This means the employment of mor-

bid products of a disease for the cure of the same dis-ease [Aequalia aequalibus]. It is of very ancient date,and of late has received renewed attention through theresearches of Pasteur, Koch, and others; it necessitatesthe attenuation of the virus, in order to be used medic-inally; it was taught as early as 400 years b. c. byXenocrates; it was introduced into Homoeopathy byDr. Lux in 1823, and in part adopted by Dr. Hering.Lux taught that the toxins formed in the body, prop-erly attenuated, are capable of curing the very diseasesthat give rise to themthat is, every disease is sup-posed to have within itself its own antidote.

In 1830 Hering proposed as a remedy for hydropho-bia the saliva of a rabid dog, properly attenuated; thevery teaching and practice of Pasteur. He also pro-posed Phthisine as a remedy for tuberculosis, and fortyyears later it, too, received popular and scientific en-dorsement by Koch and others. As early as 1834,Dr. Stapf, one of the greatest of the early homoeopath-ists,who looked upon the subject dispassionately, says: I do not doubt that the discovery of the curative ac-tion of morbid matters, in diseases that produced them,to be one of the most important discoveries that hasbeen made since the beginning of our school.Nosodes is the homoeopathic designation for such

morbid products, which are animal alkaloids [pto-maines], produced by the decomposition of animal sub-


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Principles of Homceopathy. 13stances. At first ptomaines were restricted to alkaloidsproduced by cadaveric decomposition, hence the name(ptomaine, belonging to a dead body), but now theyalso include alkaloids of animal origin formed duringlife as a result of chemical changes within the organ-ism. These alkaloids have assumed great importance,by reason of their relation to the causation of disease,and it is probable that most pathogenic bacteria pro-duce their effects through their specific alkaloids. Thehomoeopathic nosodes are these specific alkaloids atten-uated according to homoeopathic methods and adminis-tered according to the Law of Similars. To obtain apermanent place in the Materia Medica, as Psorinum,the principal of the nosodes, has already achieved, andnot be the victim of a passing therapeutic fad, as is thefate of most old-school therapeutic novelties, they musthe proved on the healthy, and the pathogenetic effectsthus obtained be the only guide for their therapeuticapplication. To apply them empirically for similardiseases corresponding to their origin as is done by theold-school with tuberculin, antitoxin is disastrous andnon-homoeopathic.

Study in this connection:The Organon: The Introduction, called by Hahnemann, A

Keview of Therapeutics; allopathy and palliative treatment, thathave hitherto been practiced in the old-school of medicine, togetherwith historical intimations of Homoeopathy before Hahnemann'stime.

Also, Organon $ 1-6, on the Functions of the Physician.Also, Homoeopathy, the Science of Therapeutics, by Carroll

Dunham.Homoeopathy, the only system of curative medicine, by Charles

S. Mack.Pathogenic Therapeutics, by J. P. Dake, in his Therapeutic

Methods.Hahnemann's criticism of Isopathy, in the Organon, Introduc-

tion, note 34.Dr. Dudgeon's most valuable appendix to his translation and

edition of the Organon, page 200.


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14 A COMPEND OF THE

CHAPTER II.PRINCIPLES OF PHARMACOLOGY.

Pharmacology {pharmakon, a drug, logos a discourse)is a convenient term for the whole subject of MateriaMedica, pharmacy and medicinal therapeutics. Speci-fically, it refers often to drug effects, as evinced fromexperiments on animals, and as such is the only sourceof modern old-school knowledge of the physiologicalaction of drugs.Materia Medica is the study of drugs in regard to

their origin, physical and chemical properties, butespecially and chiefly in regard to their effects in modi-fying the health of the body. The latter is the dis-tinctive field of the Homoeopathic Materia Medica.Drugs and Drug Action. Drugs are substances

taken from all the kingdoms of nature that are used asmedicines. They usually produce deleterious effectsupon the body when given in sufficiently large doses inhealth, and they modify some part, or the whole, of amorbid state when given to the sick. This property isdiscovered either empirically by observation of cases ofpoisoning, or by systematic experiments on humanbeings in health.

Medicinal force is a distinct property of drugs,by which they modify vital activity, not by their chem-ical, physical or mechanical properties, but by theirspecific dynamic property, peculiar, distinctive anddifferent in every drug. And they can be truly cura-tive only by reason of their modifying properties of thevital processes. Each medicinal substance, be it plant,mineral or animal product, has stored within itsmaterial particles, and embodies, therefore, its own par-


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Principles of Homceopathy. 15ticular medicinal force, which can be brought intoactivity by breaking up the outward particles. Thecharacter of this specific force, or the drug's medicinalproperties, can only be discovered by the vital test,made by experimenting with different doses on healthyhuman organisms, and to some extent on animals.The latter merely to see the ultimate lesions and or-ganic changes drugs are able to produce.At one time, and especially during the middle ages,

before the introduction of modern, scientific methods,the properties of drugs were based upon the

Doctrine of Signatures. External characteristicsof a substance served to indicate possible therapeuticeffects. Fancied or real resemblances between somepart of a plant and some particular organ or fluid ofthe body pointed to therapeutic relationship. Thus,according to this doctrine, Digitalis must be of use inblood diseases, because its flowers are adorned withblood colored dots; Euphrasia was famous as a remedyfor the eyes, because it had a black spot in its coralla,which looked like a pupil.*The lungs of a fox must be specific against asthma,because this animal has a very vigorous respiration.Hypericum having red juice ought therefore to be of

use in haemorrhages.Euphorbia, having a milky juice, must be good for

increasing the flow of milk.Sticta, having some likeness to the lungs, was called

pulmonarius and esteemed as a remedy for pulmonarycomplaints.Singularly enough, in isolated instances at least, such

relationship actually does exist, as has been verified bysubsequent clinical application, and it is possible thatan intuitively gifted race may see a relationship actu-

*Grauvogl.


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16 A COMPEND OF THEally existing between outward forms and structures andinner uses. But for purposes of modern scientific ther-apeutics it is valueless. *Other methods of determining the medicinal vir-

tues of drugs were by the sense of taste and of smell.Drugs with a bitter taste were held to possess tonic andstomachic virtues, hence the Bitters of the ordinarypharmacopoeia. Gentiana, for instance, is such a drug,and unquestionably does exert a tonic influence uponthe stomach. But this virtue is probably not becauseit is bitter, but because it has a distinctive medicinalforce wholly independent of its taste. Certain aromaticdrugs were deemed to possess anti-spasmodic and stim-ulant properties, etc.Experimental Pharmacology. The modern methodfor arriving at a knowledge of drugs is by experiment-

ation on animals, chiefly frogs, rabbits, dogs, cats, etc.But this method is objectionable on account of thedifference in structure and physiology of these animals

* The soul does not perceive the external or internal physicalconstruction of herbs and roots, but it intuitively perceives theirpowers and virtues and recognizes at once their signatum. Thissignature is a certain organic vital activity giving each natural ob-ject (in contra-distinction to artificially made objects) a certainsimilarity with a certain condition produced by disease, and throughwhich health may be restored in specific diseases in the diseasedpart. This signatum is often expressed, even in the exterior formof things, and by observing that form we may learn something inregard to their interior qualities, even without using our interiorsight. We see that the internal character of a man is often ex-pressed in his exterior appearance, even in the manner of his walk-ing, and in the sound of his voice. Likewise the hidden characterof things is to a certain extent expressed in their outward forms.As long as man remained in a natural state, he recognized the sig-natures of things and knew their true character; but the more hediverged from the path of nature and the more his mind becamecaptivated by illusive external appearances, the more this powerbecame lost. Paracehus.


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Principles of Homceopathy. 17and the vast difference in their susceptibility to theaction of medicines. Nux is most poisonous to man,yet pigs can eat it freely; Aconite is fatal to man ina small dose, yet dogs and horses can eat it with im-punity. Birds are not susceptible to the action ofOpium or Atropin, etc. Again, the dynamic effects ofdrugs differ among animals. For instance, Ipecac andTartar Emetic are emetics to men and dogs, but not torabbits. Such methods of arriving at the crude drugeffects may be sufficient to determine the so-calledphysiological effects of drugs, and the antipathic useof them based thereon, but is wholly inadequate forpurposes of Homoeopathy. They have their use, also,in determining the ultimate organic lesions producedby certain drugs, whenever it is desirable to push aproving to such an extent.

Physiological action of drugs. Drugs produce inthe organism, when given in sufficiently large doses,certain disturbances or alterations of function, usuallyof a correspondingly definite character. The dosagerequired for this purpose is, as a rule, a fixed one withincertain limits. It is the physiological dosethat is, adose large enough to produce symptoms. Opium con-stipates the bowels, produces insensibility. For thesepurposes a recognized, fixed quantity is necessary, notless than one-half to one grain. This constitutes itsphysiological dose. Strychnia increases the reflexexcitability of the spinal cord, in doses of one-twelfthto one-thirtieth of a grain. Digitalis slows the heartin ten minim doses.Now this direct, absolute action of drugs, which is

constant, can be made the basis of treatment of disease,wherever this is possible. Its advantages are imme-diate results and improvement of certain conditionsopposed to this direct drug action. It is, therefore, pal-

2


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18 A COMPEND OF THEliative where indicated. This use of drugs is basedupon the law of contraria contrariis opponenda, whenan opposite result is desired, or when it is intended toproduce not an opposite, but an entirely differentaction, as, for instance, a purgative in a case of head-ache. The objections to this direct use of drug effects,by means of physiological dosage, are the limited fieldto which such action is applicable and the necessityfor increasing dosage, and sooner or later opposite re-actionary results that make further use of the druguseless. All physicians may make use of this direct,physiological action of certain drugs for certain condi-tions, but its usefulness is limited. Hahnemann him-self clearly defines it as follows:

I do not fail to recognize the great ability *bf palli-atives. They are often not only quite sufficient incases appearing suddenly and developing rapidly, butthey have great advantages, indeed, where aid cannotbe postponed for an hour, or even a minute. Here, andhere alone, are palliatives of real use.

This use of drugs for their direct primary effects bymeans of a dosage sufficiently large and within certainlimits, always definite and precise, has led to a classi-fication of drugs, according to their physiological andsome ,of their therapeutic actions, and not differingmaterially from that introduced by Dioscorides, thefather of Materia Medica. Since his time drugs havebeen classified into three principal classes, evacuants,alteratives and specifics. The evacuants are ag ansubdivided with respect to the various routes by whichnature expels the morbid matters, such as purgatives,expectorants and diaphoretics. Alteratives comprisedrugs which alter the course of morbid conditions,modifying the nutritive processes while promotingwaste, and thus indirectly curing some chronic diseases;


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Principles of Homoeopathy. 19such are Mercury, Iodine and Arsenic. They increasemetabolism.Other classes are the antipyretics, emmenagogues,

styptics, anthelmintics, astringents, etc., etc.While such classification is very imperfect, and but

a partial designation of the properties of drugs, for everydrug may belong to several classes, and its special pro-perties in any class are at best vague and uncertain,still, there is some advantage to those who want to availthemselves of the direct drug effects, of this drug classi-fication, based on some of their more marked pathoge-netic and therapeutic effects. But it is entirely uselessfor homoeopathic prescribing.

The homoeopathic method by means of drug ex-perimentation on the healthy, so-called drug proving.This is the only scientific and rational method of ascer-taining the action of medicines. All other methodshave proved useless and misleading. The credit offirst teaching the necessity of proving drugs upon thehealthy belongs to Albrecht von Haller, a Swiss physi-cian. As early as 1755, in his Swiss pharmacopoeia, hedistinctly taught this, but nothing came of it. It wasnot until Samuel Hahnemann, in 1796, practicallywent to work and actually experimented with drugs onhimself and others that the first pure effects of drugsbecame known and could be rationally employed inpractice. Hahnemann was thus the founder of thescience of drug pathogenesy, for it is a fact that up tohis tinl^no one had made any physiological experimentwith any drug; it is a fact that his experiments withPeruvian Bark were the first ever made in the domainof pharmacology, and are a model to this day. Thescience of drug proving dates therefore from 1796, andis the beginning of a rational therapeutics. With theadoption of this principle, we have a key to unlock the


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20 A COMPEND OF THEsphere of action of every substance in nature, so far asit can bear any relation to man's constitution in healthand disease. It is a creative principle, universal in itsapplication, true for all time. The introduction of itinto medicine marks an epoch in the development ofthe healing art, before which time a science of thera-peutics was impossible.

In the Organon, 108-9, Hahnemann says: There is, therefore, no other possible way in which

the peculiar effects of medicine on the health of indi-viduals can be accurately ascertained; there is no aure,no more natural way of accomplishing this object thanto administer the several medicines experimentally, inmoderate doses, to healthy persons, in order to ascer-tain what changes, symptoms and signs of their influ-ence each individual produces on the health of thebody and of the mind; that is to say, what disease ele-ments they are able and tend to produce, since, as hasbeen demonstrated, all the curative power of medi-cines lies in the power they possess of changing thestate of man's health, and is revealed by observation ofthe latter.Drug Pathogenesy is the record of testing drugs on

the human body in varying doses, and on differentindividuals of both sexes, and observing all the symp-toms, subjective and objective, from the minutest dis-turbed function and mental state to the grossest organiclesion. Simple drugs, says Hahnemann, produce inthe healthy body symptoms peculiar to themselves,but not all at once, nor in one and the same series, norall in each experimenter. Such a method of arrivingat a knowledge of drugs is universal in its applicationit includes all that can be learned from toxicology also.The value of toxicology as illustrating drug action

is far inferior, however, to that of testing them in


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Principles of Homceopathy. 21health by means of small doses. Still it gives the ulti-mate lesions and organic changes, and in this way-interprets many symptoms of the provings; but when-ever the organism is violently invaded by a foreigndestructive agent, no matter what the poison is, thereis usually much similarity of action, resulting fromnature's efforts to throw it off by all possible routesoutward from the body's distinctive vital centers, hencethe inevitable nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, nerve dis-turbances, convulsions, paralysis, etc., of most poison-ings. The provings with small doses avoid these crude,extreme effects, and, instead of producing them, ratherindicate them by the milder disturbances produced.

Different Applications of Drug-action. The knowl-edge of what drugs will do when given to a healthysubject can be utilized in two different ways, both legit-imate, and it is a mere matter of experience and obser-vation to determine which is the better. We can use adrug to produce its physiological effects. If this isdesired, the drug must be given in a dose large enoughto produce symptomsthat is, in a so-called physio-logical dose, differing with each drug and determinedby experiment. This is the antipathic use of drugs,and has nothi7ig to do with Homoeopathy, or the law ofcure. It is, moreover, very limited in its application,and objectionable on many grounds.The other method, the homoeopathic relationship, is

universal in its application, and is not confined to anyspecial dosage, provided such always is sub-physiologi-cal i. e., less than is required to produce symptoms.Hence, drugs can act in tivo different ways when given indisease, and we can have, therefore:

1. Homoeopathic relationshipwhen given for con-ditions similar to those they are capable of producing.Applicable to all drugs, and universal in its extent.


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22 A COMPEND OF THE(2) Antipathic or allopathic relationshipwhen

given in physiological dosage to produce their first,direct or physiological effects. This is, as we havestated before, of but very limited application.The only difference in the application of drugs to

disease with the two schools of medicine is, that theold school gives drugs solely to obtain their direct,physiological effects, and rather favors combination ofremedies, while the homoeopathic school depends en-tirely upon the curative results obtained by giving thesingle remedy in a sub-physiological dose for symp-toms similar to those it is known to produce.

For reference and further study, see Hahnemann's Essay on aNew Principle for Ascertaining the Curative Powers of Drugs inhis Lesser Writings, page 249.

Hahnemann's Essay on the Sources of the Common MateriaMedica, being Preface to Vol. II of the Materia Medica Pura.The Physiological Action of Medicines, by Wm. Sharp, in Es-

says on Medicine, page 417.General Principles of Drug Action, by K. Hughes, in Pharma-

codynamics; lecture IV-V.An interesting account and practical application of the Doctrine

of Signatures can be found in Grauvogl's Textbook, $ 91-95.Samuel A Jones, M.D.: The Grounds of a Homoeopath's

Faith. An inspiring little work.Dudgeon. Lectures on Homoeopathy. Lect. VI, Isopathy.


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Pkinciples of Homceopathy. 23

CHAPTER III.THE EVOLUTION OF THE HOMCEOPATHICMATERIA MEDICA.The Homoeopathic Materia Medica is a record of

the effects of drugs upon the healthy human organism,embodying a knowledge of what drugs actually dowhen brought in contact with the functional activityof the body. The sources of this knowledge are,

1. The systematic provings.2. Observations of cases of poisoning and over-dos-

ings, which Hahnemann and his disciples have gath-ered from general medical literature.The First Book on Drug Effects. The first work

embodying such record is that of Hahnemann, entitledFragmenta de ViriMis Medicamentorum Positivis. Itis a Latin work, and published in Leipsic in 1805.Twenty-seven drugs are treated of, containing symp-toms Hahnemann himself had observed as effects ofpoisoning or from excessive dosing, and of provings onhimself.* ''I have instituted experiments, he says inthe preface, '^ in chief part on my own person, but alsoon some others whom I knew to be perfectly healthyand free from all perceptible disease.

In those experiments which have been made bymyself and my disciples, every care has been taken to

* It is interesting to know the names of the pioneer medicineswhose pathogenic effects were first published in this work of Hah-nemann. They are Aconitum, Arnica, Belladonna, Camphora,Cantharis, Capsicum, Causticum, Chamomilla, Cinchona, Coccu-lus, Copaiva, Cuprum, Digitalis, Drosera, Helleborus, Hyoscy-amus, Ignatia, Ipecacuanha, Ledum, Mezereum, Nux vomica,Opium, Pulsatilla, Rheum, Stramonium, Valeriana, Veratrumalbum. Of these, Cantharis, Copaiva, and Valeriana, Hahnemanndid not include in his subsequently published Materia Medica.


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24 A COMPEND OF THEsecure the true and full action of the medicines. Ourprovings have been made upon persons in perfecthealth, and living in contentment and comparativeease. When an extraordinary circumstance of anykindfright, chagrin, external injuries, the excessiveenjoyment of any one pleasure, or some event of greatimportancesupervened during the proving, then noother symptom has been recorded after such an event,in order to prevent spurious symptoms being noted asgenuine. When such circumstances were of slightimportance, and could hardly be supposed to interferewith the action of the medicine, the symptoms havebeen placed in brackets, for the purpose of informingthe reader that they could not be considered decisivelygenuine.

Hahnemann's Materia Medica Pura.Five years now elapsed before Hahnemann pub-lished anything more in the line of drug pathogenesy.They must have been five years of intense labor andexperiment. Then appeared the first volume of thatgreat classical work, the Materia Medica Pura, con-taining the symptomatology of twelve medicines, sixof which had already appeared in the Latin treatisepublished before.

Five years later appeared the second volume, con-taining the symptomatology of eight medicines, whichwas soon succeeded by the four other volumes, contain-ing in all the pathogenic effects of sixty-one drugs.It is a monumental work, the result of Hahnemann'smatchless penetration, wonderful insight and accurateobservation, of which he was a master. He was mostably assisted in this work by thirty-five fellow-provers,among whom the names of Franz, Gross, Hartmann,Herrmann, Hornburg, Riickert, Stapf, and FriedrichHahnemann are the most conspicuous and deserve tobe remembered by all students of Materia Medica.


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Principles of Homceopathy. 25In 1822 appeared a second edition of this great work,

with considerable additions to the symptomatology ofall the remedies and some new medicines besides. Athird and fourth edition were published after some years.Publication of the Chronic Diseases.In 1828 Hahnemann published his ''Chronic Dis-

eases, containing the symptomatology of a com-pletely new series of medicines, a series of deeply-acting drugs, like Calcarea, Sulphur, etc., the so-calledAnti-psoric remedies. The symptomatology of theseremedies was not wholly pathogenetic, but includedobservations at the bedside, so-called clinical symp-toms.A second edition, greatly enlarged and now con-taining the symptomatology of twenty-five remedies,besides the twenty-two of the first edition, appearedbetween 1835 and 1839. A peculiar feature of theprovings in this work is that the bulk of them musthave been obtained with the thirtieth potency, andoften are observations when given to the sick, differingentirely, therefoi-e, from the pathogenetic effects of theMateria Medica Pura. A new English translation ofthis great work has just appeared in this country.

Besides Hahnemann and his immediate disciples,Constantine Hering, of Philadelphia, contributed thebest provings to the homoeopathic Materia Medica,some of his drugs ranking in importance with Hahne-mann's own. Of these, Lachesis, Glonoine and Apistake first rank.Another large contributor to the Materia Medica was

Dr. E. M. Hale, not so much by proving as by intro-ducing American remedies that had been in use bybotanic physicians, and gathering all that was knownas to the therapeutic properties in one volume, calledNew Remedies. We have, then, as


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26 A COMPEND OF THESources of the Homoeopathic Materia Medica.

1. Hahnemann's Materia Medica Pura, publishedin 1811, containing the pathogenesis of the great poly-chrests i. e., remedies of many uses and wide and fre-quent application.

2. Hahnemann's Chronic Diseases, published in1828, containing the so-called Antipsoric remedies,those especially adapted to the cure of chronic diseases.

3. Dr. Jorg's Provingsa professor at the Univer-sity of Leipsic and contemporary of Hahnemann, butnot one of his followers. He proved, among others.Camphor, Digitalis, Opium, Arnica, Hydrocy. acid,Ignatia. Some of his symptoms are quoted and in-cluded by Hahnemann in the second edition of hisworks.

4. Dr. Hering and the American Provers' Union.5. Dr. E. M. Hale's contributions in his New

Remedies.6. Various provings and reprovings under the aus-

pices of the American Institute of Homoeopathy, vari-ous State societies and individual provings publishedin our journalistic literature. Also, Hartlaub andTrink's pathogeneses, Stapf's additions, provings bythe Austrian Society, etc., etc.

These records are at present collected in three greatworks:

1. Allen's Enclycopaedia, in ten volumes.2. ''Cyclopaedia of Drug Pathogenesy, in four vol-

umes.These two works contain the symptoms obtained by

provings, and from records of poisoning, i. e., patho-genetic symptoms.

3. Hering's Guiding Symptoms, in ten volumes,which also contains clinical or curative symptomsi. e.jobserved on the sick.


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Principles of Homceopathy. 27The comparative value of the three sources of

symptoms, from records of toxicology, provings onhealthy and observation on sick.

1. Toxicology. Violent cases of poisoning never yielda profitable symptomatology, on account of the violentinvasion by foreign destructive agents. The organismthrows it off by all routes outward and away from itsdistinctive life, hence vomiting, diarrhoea, convulsions,etc., common to all kinds of poisoning. On the otherhand, the records of poisoning give us the ultimateaction, the tissue and organic changes that the prov-ings can only indicate, and thus they illustrate andinterpret the provings.

2. Provings on the healthy. The provings with com-paratively small doses avoid these violent, crude andextreme effects, and instead of producing them, ratherindicate them by mild disturbances. We thus obtainthe finer and more characteristic action, and thus amuch more utilizable picture of drug effects. Fortu-nately, the bulk of the homoeopathic Materia Medica ismade up from this source. The symptoms obtainedfrom toxicological observations and from provings arealso called pathogenetic symptoms^ and the full record,in the order of their development, is called the drug'spathogenesis. The Cyclopaedia of Drug Pathogenesygives these in their fullest and most accurate form.

3. Drug effects observed in the sick. In the evolutionof the homoeopathic Materia Medica, another class ofsymptoms not bearing the aristocracy of origin, charac-terizing pathogenetic symptoms, were introduced, so-called clinical or curative symptoms. This source wasalmost unavoidable, so long as drug provings on thehealthy were limited in number and extent. Thesymptomatology of most of the great constitutional oranti-psoric remedies consists, in large part, of such clin-


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28 A COMPEND OF THEical symptoms. They are such symptoms as disappearafter administering a remedy, and which are not foundamong the pathogenetic effects, so far as the provingshave been made; but, wherever genuine, there can beno doubt that they are possible pathogenetic symptoms,could we have full and accurate provings. In this waythe homoeopathic Materia Medica has been enlarged,not always wisely, however; for, in order to discoverthem amidst the symptoms of the disease in a patient,much discrimination and training are required.Hahnemann rightly says that this is a subject for theexercise of a higher order of inductive minds, and mustbe left solely to masters in the art of observation.But, when found, they must be used tentatively andcautiously until verified in practice. Only then canthey be admitted by the side of the true pathogeneticsymptoms and form a legitimate addition to the Mate-ria Medica. Some of the greatest characteristics andguiding symptoms belong to this class. These clinicalsymptoms have been excluded from the Encyclopaediaof Materia Medica by T. F. Allen, and, of course, can-not have any place in the Cyclopaedia of Drug Patho-genesy ; but they are included in full in Hering's Guiding Symptoms and in all manuals and text-books of Materia Medica. In some of these they aredesignated by a distinguishing mark, usually O, butin most of the later works even this caution is disre-garded.

The Hahnemannian Schema. In order to bringthis vast symptomatology within the ready referenceof the busy practitioner, Hahnemann, himself a physi-cian of large and extensive practice, and, hence, inneed of labor-saving devices, re-arranged it in anatom-ical order, which has been found so practical for every-day use, that it has been universally adopted by all


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Principles of Homceopathy. 29our authors on Materia Medica. He begins with thehead and first records all the symptoms of the mind,sensorium, etc.; then those of the eyes, nose, face, etc.,downwards, placing together all the symptoms relatingto each section. In this way the original provingswere dissected, destroying the order of development ofthe symptoms, but greatly facilitating ready reference.The Repertory or Index of Symptoms. This isanother aid that has been found necessary to facilitate

the selection of the indicated remedy. It is a usefulappendage to the homoeopathic Materia Medica, bymeans^ of which we can readily discover almost anyrecorded symptom of any proven drug. The secret ofsuccessful use of the Repertory is to get thoroughlyacquainted with any one of the different repertories byconstant reference to it, thus familiarizing oneself withits peculiar arrangement. The most helpful of themall, but the one requiring, also, most patient study, isBoeninghausen's Therapeutic Pocket Book. Itsarrangement is based on a practical analysis of symp-toms into their component elements of location, sensa-tion and conditions. (See Chapter V.)How to learn Drug Pathogenesy and acquire a

working knowledge of the homoeopathic Materia Medicahas occupied the students of Homoeopathy from thebeginning of the school. Unquestionably, the provingof a drug is the truly natural and most effective methodof getting a knowledge of its action, and every physi-cian and student should undertake such practical studyas at least part of his study of materia medica. It isthe true, modern, scientific method by appeal to natureherself. In the absence of this, and as a further aid,the study of original provings, and of records of poison-ings, will go far to give a good general outline of theaction of a drug. This should be followed by the care-


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30 A COMPEND OF THEful and repeated reading of the recorded symptoma-tology, noting the parts especially involved, characterof the symptoms, the conditions under which theyoccur, and the concomitants connected with each symp-tom. In this way the peculiar and characteristicsymptoms and conditions will appear, which will bethe guiding symptoms in practice. These characteris-tics, so-called key-notes, of the different remedies, mustbe committed to memory, they form the stock in tradeof the homoeopathic prescriber, and will lead to thefurther and more detailed and comparative study ofthe remedies.

For further study, consult Hughes, Sources of the Homoe-opathic Materia Medica, in his work ou Pharmacodynamics; alsopublished separately by Leath & Ross, London.Dr. John W. Hayward: How to Learn Drug Pathogenesy,with discussion, in the Journal of the British Homeopathic Society,January, 1895.

The following classical papers should also be consulted:Constantine Hering: How the Materia Medica should be

Learnt, in British Journal of Homoeopathy, Vol. II.Dr. Meyer, one of Hahnemann's immediate disciples, on the

same subject, in North American Journal of Homceopathy, Vol. II.Dr. Pope, in Monthly Homceopathic Review, VIII, and Vol. XXV.Dr. H. R. Madden, in same journal, Vol. XIV.Dr. R, Hughes, in same journal. Vol. XXIII, and in Hahne-

mannian Monthly, Vol. XXIX.Dr. C. Wesselhoeft in JV. E. Medical Gazette, Vol. XXII.Dr. Joseph C. Guernsey, in Hahnemannian Monthly, Vol. XXIX.American Institute Report for 1894, Materia Medica Section;opinions of thirty-one members. Edited by Dr. Frank Kraft.


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Principles of Homceopathy. 31

CHAPTER IV.DRUG PROVING.

The proving of medicines is a distinctive featureof Homoeopathy and a logical necessity for applyingthe law of cure; for, in order to meet morbid stateswith drugs corresponding to them, we must know, andtherefore ascertain, what morbid states the differentmedicinal substances produce. It consists in the sys-tematic testing of a drug on the healthy human body,in order to ascertain the changes which it is capable ofproducing in the functions and organs.Hahnemann, after viewing the subject in every pos-sible light, and examining every method for ascertain-

ing the action of drugs, came to the conclusion that theonly efficient way was to test the medicines singlyand alone on the healthy human body.General Rules for Drug Proving. The medicinal

substance which is to be proved must be tested singly,without any admixture of any foreign substance, exceptan inert vehicle when necessary for its administration.Nothing of a medicinal nature should be taken so longas it is desired to observe the effects of the proving.Each drug should be proved, not only in its crude

form and lower material dosage, but with higher atten-uations as well. When the latter are used and symp-toms obtained, a special susceptibility on the part of theprover probably exists and some of the most importantcharacteristics may be elicited from him. Only actu-ally observed facts should be recorded, free from alltheories of drug action. Such purely positive observa-tion is for all time, and possesses the same value afterthe lapse of centuries as it does at the time when first


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32 A COMPEND OF THEobserved. If any deductions be drawn from the ob-served facts, they should not be incorporated into thetext, but kept separate and distinct. For this reason,Hahnemann called his Materia Medica 'Tura (pure),because free from all theories, only a record of observedfacts. Hence, in making a proving, great precaution,control experiment, accuracy, close observation, andthe strictest conscientiousness are essential.

Directions for provers. The prover should not de-part in any material way from any of his ordinaryhabits of life, because his life is based on these habitsand conformed to them, and any marked change inthese must result in changes more or less important,which might be put to the account of the drug; hence,his food, drink, sleep, exercise, and habits generallymust be such as he has been accustomed to. Heshould observe himself before beginning a proving, asevery one is liable, even in the best state of health, toslight variations in his sensations and functions. Hav-ing thus discovered what symptoms he is liable to nat-urally and without any drug influence, he must avoidattributing these to the drug to be proven, unless, in-deed, they are more pronounced than ever.Dosage required for proving. As a general rule,

begin with a comparatively small dose and increaseit gradually till distinct symptoms make their appear-ance. The most useful doses are those that are justsufficient to produce distinct symptoms.Female provers. It is very important to test all

drugs in regard to their effects on the female organism,hence women, married and unmarried, should contrib-ute to provings. '' Before beginning the record of aproving, she should inscribe in the note-book a state-ment of her age, temperament, the sicknesses which


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Principles of Homceopathy. 33she has had, and those to which she has an inheritedor acquired tendency; also, whatever pains or sensa-tions she may be habitually subject to; also, any pecu-liar susceptibilities she may possess to external influ-ences of any kind, or to mental, or moral, or emotionalexcitements, depressions or perversions. Her constitu-tional peculiarities, respecting the menstrual function,should be carefully recorded; regarding frequency,quantity, character, and whatever inconveniences orsufferings precede, accompany or follow menstruation,such as headache, backache, colic, leucorrhoea, etc.,with peculiar states of mind or emotion. *

Repetition of doses. No special rule can be given,but it has been the custom of most provers to repeatthe dose every few hours until symptoms show them-selves. It is best to give a single, rather large, doseand watch its effects. This plan is chiefly useful withsome vegetable medicines, whose sphere of action issmall, and of which the first dose sometimes exhausts,for a time, the susceptibility of the system to the actionof the substance. The continuous repetition of thedose is applicable, if we want to ascertain the specialaction of a drug on some organ or function by con-tinued dosing.Age and sex are modifying factors in drug proving,

and all drugs should be tried on individuals of bothsexes and different ages. Some drugs possess markedaffinity for one sex, as Crocus and Platina for thefemale, and Nux preferably the male.Temperament. Different temperaments should be

chosen, for certain medicines are especially adapted tocertain temperaments, and here find the most favor-able environment for developing their specific effects.

* Dunham,3


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S4 A COMPEND OF THERe-provings. The provings should be repeated in

different individuals and in the same prover. In orderto avoid the admission of accidental symptoms, it is asafe rule, although not absolute, not to adopt anysymptoms unless it has been found in several provers.By comparing one proving with another, and ascer-taining the constancy with which the different symp-toms appear, the characteristic symptoms are mademanifest. It is to be remembered that all individualsare not alike susceptible to all the effects which a drugis capable of producing; therefore, the need of a largenumber of experiments is apparent, in order to obtaina complete view of the action of a drug.Heriiig's Rules for Provers.

(1) Make a first experimental test with a single,moderate-sized dose.

(2) If no symptoms are produced, take it everytwo or three hours, or change the time of the day fortaking it.

(3) If still no symptoms, try higher potencies, towhich might be added this rational, additional rule: ifstill no symptoms appear, go lower in the scale of at-tenuations and give material doses, increasing size untilsymptoms appear.

In the nature of things, some of the symptoms taketime to develop, therefore the first experiments withsmall doses should not be hurried. The prover shouldlearn to wait, for some of the late appearing symptomsare frequently the most characteristic.How to Describe Symptoms Obtained from a Prov-

ing. The greatest minuteness and accuracy should beobserved. A sensation should be described by somefamiliar comparison. State how the symptom is ef-fected by different circumstances, i. e., the drug's mo-dalities, as position of body, motion, rest, eating, fast-


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Pkinciples of Homceopathy. 35ing, day, night, indoors, open air, weather, etc. Nocircumstance, however trifling, should be omitted whichmay in any way tend to indicate the characteristic ac-tion of the drug and so precisionize it. All such con-ditions of aggravation and amelioration should be care-fully recorded as they express the drug's individualitymost clearly and universally.The sides of the body on which symptoms occur

should always be stated, many remedies acting moremarkedly on one side than another.The times of occurence, aggravation or amelioration,

are also very important, some remedies having distinct-ive morning aggravation of some or all of their symp-toms, others at night, etc. As an illustration of a per-fect description of a symptom, take the following ofHahnemann's proving of Nux: Headache beginningsome hours before dinner, increased after eating, thenviolent shooting pain in left temple, with nausea andvery acid vomiting, all of which symptoms disappearedon lying down.The three essential features of every complete

symptom are, therefore,(1) Location.(2) Sensation.(3) Condition of aggravation or amelioration (mo-

dality), which is the most important, and it ought to bethe aim of all provers to observe symptoms with thesefeatures well in mind.

Never separate symptoms that appear in groups orwith marked concomitants. Hahnemann always lefttogether symptoms appearing in groups, if he consid-ered them really connected; for instance, he observed,forty-five minutes after taking Pulsatilla, a cramp inthe legs, in the evening, after lying down, with a chill;and at another time, in the evening, an aching, draw-


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36 A COMPEND OF THEing pain in the legs up into the knee, with more chilli-ness than during the day.Primary and Secondary Drug Effects. It is a law

of drug action, according to which the administrationof each medicine causes, at first, certain abnormalsymptoms, the so-called primary effects of medicines,but afterwards, by reaction of the organism, a conditionentirely the opposite, where this is possible, of this firsteffect is producedthe secondary effects, for instance,narcotic substances produce primarily insensibility andsecondarily pain. In order to produce the primaryeffects, material doses are required.In his essay, entitled Suggestions for Ascertaining

the Curative Powers of Drugs, Hahnemann says:''Most medicines have more than one action; the firsta direct action, which gradually changes into the second(which I call the indirectly secondary action). Thelatter is generally a state exactly the opposite of theformer. In this way most vegetable drugs act. Butfew medicines are exceptions to this rule, i. e., metalsand minerals. The thorough examination of drugprovings, as in our possession at present, does notjustify any division of drug-symptoms into primaryand secondary. There are indeed in every proving, asDr. Hering has shown, primary and secondary symp-toms, in the sense that some symptoms appear earlier andothers later in the course of the proving, but althoughthese may appear opposed to each other, they are allto be regarded as drug symptoms, and, as such, indi-cate the remedy.Hahnemann's method of conducting provings. Dr.

Hering thus describes it: After he had lectured tohis fellow-workers on the rules of proving, he handedthem the bottles with the tincture; and when theyafterwards brought him their day books, he examined


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Principles of Homceopathy. 37every prover carefully about every particular symp-tom, continually calling attention to the necessaryaccuracy in expressing the kind of feeling, the painor the locality, the observation and mentioning ofeverything that influenced their feelings, the time ofday, etc. When handing their papers to him, afterthey had been cross-examined, they had to affirm thatit was the truth, and nothing but the truth, to the bestof their knowledge, by offering their hands to himthe customary pledge at the universities of Germany,instead of an oath. This was the way in which ourmaster built up his Materia Medica.

For fuller study see Organon, $ 105 to 145.Dudgeon, Lectures on Homoeopathy, page 176. Lecture VII

and VIII.Sharp's Tracts on Homoeopathy, Essay VII. Provingsin Health.Dunham, Science of Therapeutics: The Dose in Drug Proving,

page 136. Directions for Drug Provers, page 350,


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A COMPEND OF THE

CHAPTER V.INTERPRETATION OF DRUGPATHOGENESIS.

The homcBopathic Materia Medica, as it is accessibleat present to students, is a mass of symptomatology,arranged, as a rule, according to the HahnemannianSchema. The Cyclopaedia of Drug Pathogenesy isthe exception, which endeavors to give the symptomsin the order of their development; but, in order topractically utilize the provings, the anatomical ar-rangement of the symptomatology is desirable. Besidesthis arrangement, the bulk of the symptomatology canbe analyzed and interpreted helpfully, and thus simpli-fied. All provings of drugs give a symptomatologycomposed

(1) Of general symptoms.(2) Of peculiar or characteristic symptoms.(3) Of certain elective affinities to special organs or

functions.General symptoms of drugs. These are common to

all drugs and appear in every proving. They canpractically be eliminated. Such are symptoms likefeeling of malaise, loss of appetite, weakness, distress,headache, etc. Such general symptoms, unless ampli-fied by accompanying conditions or modalities^ are of com-paratively little value for the prescriber, because theirpresence does not point clearly to any one particulardrug. We must find in our symptomatology, and makeuse of such symptoms as serve to individualize andgive character to a drug, and hence these are called

Characteristic Symptoms. Each drug is an entity,and can express its disease producing properties, i. e.,


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Principles of Homceopathy. 39pathogenetic force, in a way peculiar to itself. Thosesymptoms that do this most perfectly are the drug'scharacteristic symptoms. The ideal characteristicsymptom is one which is possessed by no other thanthe individual drug of which it is predicated and towhich it gives character as an individual. We learnto distinguish drugs very much as we learn to distin-guish men, not by their general features, which are com-mon to all, but rather by the peculiar expression andshape and habits by which we recognize the individual.It may be a small and insignificant thing and yet onethat is most expressive of the person's individuality.So in drugs it is not the general effect upon the stom-ach or bowels or the general debility produced thatserve to characterize it as the remedy, but rather thepeculiar, characteristic uncommon, prominent symp-toms.

These have also been designated as keynote * symp-toms, by Dr. Guernsey, and as guiding symptoms, by Dr.Hering.From a physiological point of view they may appear

trivial and unimportant, but for purposes of prescrib-ing they are paramount in importance. These charac-teristic symptoms of drugs may be found in one ofthree divisions of its pathogenesis. Either

* While the keynotes, according to Dr. Guernsey, will, in eachinstance, form an unfailing guide, the requisite conditions andcorresponding totality of the symptoms in such cases being inevit-ably present. If this doctrine is trueand in practice it has beenconfirmed by much experienceit is so because these so-called key-notes essentially represent a profound dyscrasia of the organic ner-vous system.', either in such sensations of pain as precede even thefirst functional derangements, and are intended as premonitory ad-monitions; or in such sensations as arise in connection with, andin conseqTience of, the initial disorder in these most interior organsof vegetative life. J. H. P. Frost in Hahnemannian Monthly, Vol.II, page 443.


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40 A COMPEND OF THE1. In the locality or tissue or organ affected.2. In the sensations.3. In the modalities and concomitants.These are the three grand divisions around which the

symptomatology of drugs can be grouped, or into whichthey can be divided for practical study.

Locality or seat of action. Every drug affects someorgan or system of organs or tissue or region more de-cidedly than others, and there especially or primarilyexpends its power. This is not a local action merely,but a localization of the drug^s specific nature. It ap-pears, no matter by what avenue the drug is introducedinto the body. A drug may come into direct contactwith the blood, and thereby with every part of the or-ganism, and yet only certain tissues or organs will beaffected by it that is, only these tissues or organs willreact against the foreign element. This specific localiza-tion, or specificity of seat of a drug, is known as its elec-tive affinity, by which it preferably chooses certain cells,tissues or organs, to manifest its action. In a generalway, we see that Belladonna affects principally thebrain as its arena for action, and this organ, therefore,has a preferred relationship to Belladonna. So, in thesame way, Aconite affects the heart, Ergot the uterus,Bryonia the serous membranes, Podophyllum the duo-denum, Rhus the skin; Tellurium, the tympanum;Glonoin the vaso-motor centre in the brain; Phosphor,the periosteum.

This elective affinity cannot be explained, but it ex-ists. It was recognized even before Hahnemann andhomoeopathic provings, and has been made the founda-tion of a system of practice by Rademacher, a Germanphysician and contemporary of Hahnemann, who him-self traces the thought to Paracelsus.

AVhile each drug has a preferred locality, based on


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Peinciples of Homceopathy. 41its elective affinity, still it must not be forgotten thatthe whole organismthe whole man, mentally andphysically,is affected. This is so, because the var-ious functions and organs are not independent instru-ments, but wonderfully bound together by nerves andblood vessels, and parts most remote are in directnerve communication with each other. Diseases areproduced and continued along these lines of network,when once they have found a foothold, and drugs actin a similar manner along these tracks. We ought toget a mental picture of a drug as a wholethe drugpersonified, and thus the typical patient correspondingto the drug. Such study gives a reality and practicalutility to the Materia Medica.

Sensations, or kind of Action. While the specialseat of action is the first marked fact about the patho-genetic properties of drugs, the special kind of action isthe second fact. This may be seen in the sensationsand modalities of a drug. Thus the burning pains ofArsenic, the coldness of Camphor and Veratrum, thesticking pains of Bryonia, the stinging pains of Apisand Theridion, the plug sensations of Anacardium, thesoreness of Arnica and Hamamelis, are all characteris-tic. Frequently the character of these pains indicatesthe seat of the action, and thus points to the electiveaffinity of the drug, as burning pains in general indicatethe mucous membranes; dull, boring, gnawing pains,the bones; sticking, cutting pains, serous membranes;etc. In many drugs these conditions may be so expres-sive of their special character, that we nearly alwaysexpect them to be present when they are the homoeo-pathically indicated, and, therefore, prove to be thecurative remedy. Such characteristic conditions arethe restlessness and anxiety of Aconite and Arsenic, thechilliness of Pulsatilla, the thirstlessness of Apis, the


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42 A COMPEND OF THEdullness and drowsiness of Gelsemium, the hysterialcontradiction of its symptoms of Ignatia, the melan-choly of Aurum, etc.

Modalities and Concomitants. Modalities are con-ditions influencing or modifying drug action. Theyare the phenomena of time, place, circumstances onwhich the development and appearance of the symp-toms depend. Every drug has its own mode of action,manifests itself in a way peculiar to itself, distinguish-ing it from every other. It acts best under certainconditions, in certain bodily and mental constitutions,which present, therefore, the most favorable groundand environment for the full and free manifestation ofthe drug's individuality. Just as a plant thrives bestin certain conditions of soil, climate, elevation, etc.needs, in short, for its perfect development, a suitableenvironment,so a drug must be similarly situated toenable it to express itself clearly and fully. It is ofthe greatest importance in drug proving, as well as inprescribing homoeopathically, to note the peculiarmethod in which a drug invades the animal economy,its aggravations and ameliorations, the times of theday, and conditions of the weather, when the action ismost pronounced. For instance, the marked increaseof pain on motion of Bryonia, the relief of headacheby wrapping head up warmly of Silica, the markedpreference of the left side of the body of Lachesis, theaggravation of all the symptoms from 4 to 8 p. m. ofLycopodium, the relief by heat of Arsenic, the aggrava-tion of damp weather of Dulcamara, are characteristicconditions of great value, clearly expressing the pecu-liar genius of these drugs and are paramount in esti-mating their place in the symptomatology. But, whilethey hold this important place, they must not bestudied independently of the whole of a drug's action.


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44 A COMPEND OF THEsymptom, out of these elements, in removing similarsymptoms in the patient, hence in curing, and thereasonableness of the presumption that future, com-plete provings will develop the missing links of thecomplete symptom of the drug. It is in entire har-mony with the fact that every genuine symptom hasthese three factors locality, sensation, and modalitythese, when combined, constitute a perfect symptom.It is not usual to get these, in any one symptom, fromany one prover, but they may be found scatteredthrough the various provings; hence the legitimacy ofBoeninghausen's method.

Read in this connection:T, F. Allen's paper before the World's Medical Congress at Chi-

cago, 1893, entitled, The Selection of the Homoeopathic Eemedy,especially in regard to Boeninghausen's Method, published, withdiscussions, in North American Journal of Hommopathy, August,1893.

For further practical illustration of the use of Boeninghausen'smethod see an instructive, analytical report of a case of Progres-sive Muscular Atrophy Cured with Phosphorus, by T. F. Allen,reported in Ilahnemannian Advocate, July 15, 1896.

For further study, consultOrganon, $ 153, 164, 165, 178.Also, the preface to Hering's Guiding Symptoms, Vol. I.Hirschel's Rules and Examples for the Study of Pharmacody-

namics, Thos, H. Hayle.


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46 , A COMPEND OF THEturbing rather the normal evolution of the curativeinfluence.Antidotal Relation. Certain drugs antidote each

other therapeutically, because they produce similareffects locally in certain parts of the organism or oncertain tissues and functions or generally throughouttheir action as a whole. The antidotal relation is basedtherefore on similarity and is operative according tothe law of cure, similia similibus; and again the anti-dotal relationship between drugs may be general orpartial, according as the similarity in their action isgeneral or confined to certain parts only. Thus cam-phor antidotes the effects of cantharis only so far asthese concern the mucous membrane of the urinarytract, while the same tissue elsewhere is not antidotedby it.

Such antidotal relation is of use in practice, by whichwe can modify or annul an undesirable action of adrug, for instance, Anacardium bears an antidotal re-lation to Rhus, especially in its action on the skin,Hepar to Mercury, Chamomilla to Coffea and Pulsa-tilla, etc. An interesting phase of the antidotal rela-tionship is the mutual antidotal or at least modifyingpower of the higher and the lower attenuations of thesame drug, as well as the antidotal relationship betweenthe chronic effects of the crude drug and the attenuateddrug, as is seen in treating chronic tobacco poisoningwith Tabacum high. This holds true at times in acuteconditions as has been frequently verified in poisoningwith Rhus where a high attenuation will prove thequickest antidote.Concordant or Compatible Relationship. Hahne-mann first made the valuable, practical observation

that certain remedies act better when they are givenin a certain series. There seems to be an afiinity be-


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Principles of Homceopathy. 47tween them. They are not of the same natural family,but of wholly dissimilar origin; but they have markedsimilarities in action. Such remedies may follow eachother well; they point to a deeper and closer relation-ship than that of mere family, or similarity in origin.Such relationship exists, for example, between Chinaand Calcarea, Pulsatilla and Sepia, Belladonna andMercurius, Nitric acid and Thuja, Mercurius and Sul-phur, etc.Complementary Relation exists between drugs that

complete a cure that is begun by another and carriedto a certain point, where it is taken up by anotherdrug and completed. If a remedy is allowed its fulltime of action, it will often lead up to a complement-ary remedythat is, the symptoms remaining un-touched, or brought to the surface, will often suggesta drug known to be complementary to the one given.This useful relationship of certain group of drugs is ofgreat service in the treatment especially of chronic dis-eases. Such relationship exists between Belladonnaand Calcarea; Apis and Natrum muriaticum; Aconi-tum and Sulphur; Chamomilla and Magnesia phos-phorica; Thuja and Silica.

Inimical relation is the very opposite of the concor-dant and complementary. There seems to be a lack ofharmony between certain drugs, as is also seen in cer-tain chemical affinities. This

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Boerick Compendium of Materia Medica

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